Column: Dolphins situation brings bigger issue to light

Whoever said hazing was a rite of passage? Who ever said mental, physical or verbal abuse on someone weaker than you made you more of a man?

The case of Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin probably only scratches the surface of what bullying, abuse and hazing may be in the NFL — so the situation is no shocker.

The pair of Miami Dolphins offensive linemen has captured the nation’s attention over the last week, after Martin left the team for alleged harassment and Incognito wound up suspended for so-called misconduct when the Dolphins got hold of a racially-charged, threatening voicemail from Incognito to Martin.

This brings to the light a different aspect of what we call, “bullying.”

Some people forget or refuse to leave their childish ways back in their childhood days. Incognito has a track record for trouble: fighting, suspensions, ejections and dismissals. The guard was actually bullied when he was a child— and there we have it. But you can’t hold on to the past, or, even worse, take it out on other people (but it’s not like that message will penetrate through to people anyway).

Through all the misconduct, Incognito still found his way on an NFL roster, starting in each of his 102 games since his 2006 debut for the St. Louis Rams. How much does the league care about background checks on guys if he’s proven himself ferocious enough?

I understand people make mistakes, once, twice even. But once you start knocking on the door of three, we’ve got an issue. And I seriously doubt some behaviors can be shaken when there’s never an eye-opening consequence for it.

Do you think I’d be able to get a marketing job if I were suspended from 80 percent of my marketing internships for various, violence-related reasons?

Dolphins coach Joe Philbin can tell the media what he so chooses. Maybe he was in fact blind to the alleged misconduct, but after reports were released about the coaches telling Incognito to “toughen” Martin up, it’s hard to believe what the ring leader of the coaching staff has to say as the NFL investigates the organization.

Who knows what will be uncovered next if this turns out to be absolutely true.

And I get it: tradition is tradition. But whoever said traditions of hazing and physical and mental abuse were a rite of passage for youngfootball players?

The most troubling part of this situation, to me, is that some players had the nerve to call Martin the coward because he broke a locker room “code.” It seems a little insensitive. If he’d been truly suffering for this long, he probably acted out of desperation in leaving the team.

While he should have brought it before the coaches when the actions of the other players went too far, you can’t blame someone who’s being bullied for not standing up for themselves. Let’s just hope he doesn’t hold a grudge for 20 years and bully other people like Incognito seemed to do.

Is this is a surprise that pro football players are receiving these allegations? Look at what they do for a living, especially linemen. Once a week for several hours, they’re in barbaric attack mode. Are we supposed to expect they return back to upstanding gentlemen after trying to protect their “territory.”

I could only imagine there isn’t an on-off switch for that.

While a guy is on the field trying to trample any given man, you would like to think a locker room would be a place of companionship and support for the team afterwards. While it may be in some cases, it’s also not in others.

There shouldn’t be abuse, there shouldn’t hazing; haven’t we learned enough about the dangers of such behaviors after people have died because of it? Haven’t we learned to stand against bullying after victims of it have taken their own lives?

The Miami Dolphins may be unfortunately in for a long ride. Hopefully, it’ll be a wake-up call to others who participate or condone bullying or abusive behaviors as a way to cover up their own insecurities or sadness.

Attacking someone weaker than you doesn’t make you a man. Taking care of business, whatever that means to you, makes you a man.

Jessika Morgan is the Sports Editor of the Free Press. She can be reached at 252-559-1078 and Jessika.Morgan@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessikaMorgan.

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